I can just hear you now, not another genealogy to read for our devotion today. I remind you that there is always something, and in fact, sometimes many things that can be learned from reading through genealogies, even though it may be more difficult to do than reading a narrative of events in Biblical history. This particular genealogy goes from Adam to the "twelve sons of Israel", which of course, became the "nation of Israel".

Let me point out several items of interest as it relates to prophecy. Notice the sons of Japheth, I Chronicles 1:5-6. They are Gomer, Magog, Tubal, Meshech, and Togarmah. Now remember, this is 4,500 years ago, right after the flood, that these sons were born to Japheth. These are the names of some of the peoples and the nations that come against Israel, to destroy the Jewish state in the "last days", Ezekiel 38:2-6.

Then look at the sons of Ham, I Chronicles 1:8-10. Among those mentioned are Cush, modern-day Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia. There is Mizraim, modern-day Egypt and Put, the name for today's Libya.

Verse 10 tells us that Cush begat Nimrod who became "mighty on the earth". Genesis 10:10reveals to us that Nimrod had a "kingdom" in Babel, Biblical "Babylon", which is modern day Iraq.

These sons of Ham, whose descendants became the present-day Arab states, were born over 500 years before Abraham, and definitely not to his first son, Ishmael, I Chronicles 1:28 andGenesis 10:10-11:26. Therefore, Abraham, nor his son Ishmael is the father of the Arab world.

Notice, Abraham also had Isaac, I Chronicles 1:28, who became the father of two boys who became two nations, Genesis 25:19-23. The Lord told Rebekah, the mother of these two boys, that they would struggle throughout all their generations.

Jacob, or Israel as God changed his name, Genesis 32, would have 12 sons, I Chronicles 2:1-2, and they would become the Jewish people, the nation of Israel. This son would carry on the heritage of Abraham and Isaac.

Esau, Jacob's twin brother, would also become a nation. You can trace through the Bible and see that they are the modern-day Palestinians who are in the process of becoming a nation.

Several Jewish prophets, Ezekiel, Malachi and Obadiah, tell of the conflict between these two brothers that will continue until the return of the Lord (See my study, Esau and the Palestinians - www.prophecybookstore.com).

As I stated earlier, we can learn from genealogies. In our reading for today we see the "end times" scenario being laid out for us to study. Bible prophecy will be fulfilled, all in a "genealogy". Bible prophecy will be fulfilled. It is all laid out in the Word for us to study, and "prepare" for it to happen in our day, today.

PRAYER THOT: Help me as I study God's word, all of it even the genealogies, to understand the times we are living in today and to live in light of the truth I will come to know.